CHENNAI: After a 44-year-old businessman from Chennai was allegedly kidnapped by a four-member gang, police arrested the suspects, and rescued the man within three hours. Police said the businessman had cheated one of the suspects of `55 lakh four years ago.
Police said M Solomon of KP Park in Pulianthope had worked as a real estate agent a few years ago. On Friday night, around 9.30 pm, as Solomon and his friend S Vijayakumar (38) were walking towards their car at a restaurant in Koyambedu, a car pulled up near them. Solomon was pulled into the vehicle and abducted. “Vijayakumar noticed the car’s number plate and lodged a police complaint. Three special teams were formed and city borders were closed for vehicle checks. Patrol police were also alerted,” said a senior police officer. Around 12.40 am on Saturday, a police patrol noticed the car parked near a house at Abirami Nagar in Chennai.
The police team barged into the house and rescued Solomon, who was injured after being beaten up by the gang. Police arrested G Kanna (40) from Anna Nagar, A Suresh (52) from Villupuram, S Saravanan (32) from Maduravoyal, and S Narayanamoorthy (36) from Alapakkam. Police said Solomon had borrowed `55 lakh from Kannan by promising huge profits but never returned the money.
Inspector arrested
Three years after allegedly abducting and harassing a family, while intervening in a business dispute between two parties, Saravanan, an inspector of police, was arrested by the CB-CID. While police have already arrested six others in the case, Saravanan is the first police officer to be arrested. Five other personnel, including an Assistant Commissioner of Police, are still at large.
The CB-CID registered a case in June last year and the police personnel were suspended seven months ago.The other accused earlier arrested are Srikandan alias Kodambakkam Sree, Venkata Sivananga Kumar, Dhanapal, Sowkath Ali, Nandhakumar and Saravanakumar.Saravanan, according to police sources, was living out of the State for the past six months and returned recently to meet his family in Thirumangalam, where he was arrested.
What happened?
Former ACP of Thirumangalam Sivakumar, Inspector Saravanan, SI Pandiyarajan and head constables Joseph, Giri and Jeyakumar got involved in a business dispute between two partners. However, according to a complaint by Rajesh, one of the businessmen involved, the police personnel illegally detained him, along with his mother, fiance and her brother, at a farmhouse in Red Hills in 2019. They allegedly forced him to transfer properties to his former business partners Tharun Krishna Prasad and Srinivasa Rao.
Rajesh said he had reached a settlement with the duo long back, but the police personnel took him to Thirumangalam Police Station several times in 2019 and threatened him to part with more money at the behest of the duo. Rajesh initially filed a complaint with the Anna Nagar Police but alleging that no action was taken, he approached the then DGP, who forwarded the case to CB-CID a few months ago.